what's the best deal going for 256+ gb SSD?

[diablo2112]

Ah, the weekly "which SSD should I buy" thread has devolved into the Garbage Collection vs. TRIM vs. OS X doesn't support this discussion. Happens with 1.0 probability everytime.

There's TONS of threads here discussing this. Most folks don't have a clue what they're talking about.

Some of us have researched this extensively, including myself. There's no one perfect answer. For me, the 160 GB Intel X25m G2 was the best choice. Everything you want to know about (lack of) write degradation on this drive can be found here. This discussed the V-version of the Intel drive, but the analysis is spot-on.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3618/intel-x25v-in-raid0-faster-than-x25m-g2-for-250/6

BTW, worst-case for those drives that don't manage cell cleanup, you see a small degradation (30-40%) in write speed. Most of the time, you're reading off these drives, so my bet is most folks wouldn't even notice a difference. The whole TRIM/degradation/GC argument is frankly "much ado about nothing". The performance increases of SSDs over traditional HDs is so large, any SSD will be a notable improvement, even a fully-write-speed-degraded generation 1 SSD.

 

[bella92108]

Crucial C300 vs Corsair Performance 256 - Which is more mac compatible?

So reading the "firmware drama" online, I can't decide between these two. I want an SSD that the firmware can be updated when all I own is a MAC. Which of these would be best? Seems both are difficult to update the firmware as Corsair nor Crucial are very Mac-loving... opinions?

 

[rmastale]

So reading the "firmware drama" online, I can't decide between these two. I want an SSD that the firmware can be updated when all I own is a MAC. Which of these would be best? Seems both are difficult to update the firmware as Corsair nor Crucial are very Mac-loving... opinions?

I don't think the C300 needs any firmware updating (at least not right now). The crucial ssd that does is the first gen version... the M225. Not really sure what the difference is between the two except for the transfer speed (which is capped at 3gb for the mac users anyway). Have no experience with the corsair so I can't really say. My guess is you'll love either one!

 

[rmastale]

Xbench scores for my C300.

 

[Tex-Twil]

@OP, so did you finally buy one of those ?

 

[1BadMac]

I would also like to suggest an alternative that often gets overlooked: SSD + TC. I picked up the new 1 TB time capsule plus a 120 GB OCZ w/ GC support. I keep my OS and apps on the SSD and my media on the TC. When at home on the N network, it is super fast transfering files and even streaming HD content. When I go on vacation, like I am now, I set it up for external access so I can authenticate and get access to my files. If I'm working with something I need locally, I'll transfer it before I go. Works well for me, although I'm not a huge mp3 and video collector either. And anymore when I watch videos, I'm doing so on my ipad on flights or my iPhone for music.

Anyways, just throwing that out as an alternative that has worked great for me. For less than the cost of a 256 SSD, I got both of the aforementioned components. I get the speed benefits of an SSD, plus I get all the benefits of the TC with backups, dual band wireless n/g, etc.